Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

Elena Butuc

Dried wood ear mushrooms are a must for me now, they are always present in my pantry. First of all, I can use them anytime to make a marinated wood ear salad - fast, delicious and interesting for guests and not only. Then, I definitely use them for the Chicken and wood ear, one of my favorite dishes of the Chinese cuisine. But wait to see what delicious Ants Climbing a Tree you can cook with them!

These dried mushrooms are very prolific and tricky - they have a long shelf life and you can use them whenever you need, without having to store them in the fridge. And then, when you soak them, you think they are too few and you add another handful... and you end up with a lot of mushrooms, enough for an army! So just be aware that they increase their volume a lot, almost 10 times...

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Ingredients

Metric US

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Dried wood ear mushrooms

30 g

I consider the amount of dried mushrooms before soaking

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Vegetable oil

100 ml

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Vinegar

50 ml

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Onions

1 piece

+ 1 stalk of green onion to garnish, it's optional

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Garlic cloves

2 pieces

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Ground coriander

0.5 tsp

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Salt

1 tbsp

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Chilli pepper

0.25 tsp

I have in mind dried chilli pepper flakes, optional, if you want the salad to be more spicy

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Sesame seeds

1 tsp

for decoration

Step by step

This is a 100g bag of dried mushrooms that I buy from Chinese stores. It usually costs no more than 12-13 lei and I think it's a very decent price considering how much you can make from them.

A big plus - they have a long shelf life, notice that they do not contain any other chemicals, only dehydrated and dried mushrooms.

Take a deeper bowl and place a handful of mushrooms in it, about 25-30 grams.

Don't think it's little, they will increase in volume 10 times after soaking!

We now have 2 hydration options:

- pour cold water (to fill the bowl) and let soak for 2-3 hours at room temperature - I usually do so;

- pour hot boiling water and let soak for 15 minutes - it's faster if you are in a hurry.

Now notice how a small handful of mushrooms filled the whole big bowl!

Every time I fool myself and I never learn to use fewer mushrooms :)

The amount in the recipe is tested, so you can go with it.

After soaking, I take a few mushrooms in my hand and give them a good rinse under cold running water, then drain in a sieve.

I make sure all the mushrooms are soft and well hydrated. I usually do not find impurities in these mushrooms taken from Chinese stores, but it's good to be careful. I can't stand anything crashing between my teeth while eating.

While the mushrooms drain, we make the marinade.

Finely chop an onion and place in a pan with oil to brown lightly.

Here, I prefer to mince the onion very finely so that even the fussy ones, who can't stand the onion, won't even notice it. Onion completely changes the taste of the salad for the better.

When the onion is brown, turn off the heat and start adding the following straight in the pan - vinegar, salt, coriander, crushed garlic and chilli flakes if you want it spicy.

Mix well all ingredients.

Pour this sauce over the mushrooms we prepared earlier and mix well.

Adjust with salt, vinegar or other spices that you like - I don't use too much of these, the taste is quite specific and I don't make unverified combinations.

I noticed that this salad requires a little more salt and vinegar - the mushrooms have a neutral taste and absorb them well.